


They've Got Nothing on You

by solversonlou



Category: Silicon Valley (TV)
Genre: Drinking, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Self Confidence Issues, Self-Esteem Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-25
Updated: 2018-04-25
Packaged: 2019-04-27 13:34:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14426502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solversonlou/pseuds/solversonlou
Summary: Richard tries to reassure Jared that he shouldn't be self conscious about his looks.Set after 5x05, prompted by a post on Tumblr. This is a little more suggestive, though.





	They've Got Nothing on You

Richard is grabbing a snack from the kitchen area of the offices when he spots Jared, standing in the corner with an ice pack pressed to his lips and a frown on his features.

"Oh, Richard," Jared's eyes widen as he notices his CEO's presence, taking the pack away from his face as he attempts to smile, lips still swollen from reversing the augmentation. Flinching, he lowers his gaze, voice a little muffled against the pack. "Sorry, the doctor said it should calm down in a couple of days."

"Huh," Richard nods, mouth set in an awkward smile as he glances over Jared. He hovers for a moment, wondering what he should say. "Hey, Jared, sorry if this is a loaded question, but why did you get the fishman lips in the first place?"

Richard gestures with a hand, circling his own lips which he pouts out with the fishman comment. It's a little unintentionally insensitive of him, and Jared can't help but feel a hot twinge of shame rush over himself as Richard leans against the counter.

"I, uh," Jared glances up at Richard, chuckling a little nervously. "Well, I noticed that my nose looked rather large on camera, so I thought lip injections would balance it out."

Richard's brow furrows as he spoons yogurt into his mouth, eyes glancing over Jared's face, particularly focusing on his nose. He can't say that he's ever thought Jared looked odd or ugly. Placing the yogurt on the counter, he shakes his head with a scoff, "Why would you think that? Your nose is fine, Jared."

Jared's dour aura lightens at Richard's words, eyes a little brighter as he blinks at him, trying not to sound too hopeful as he speaks, "You really think so?"

"Yeah," Richard nods, waves a dismissive hand as he shifts his weight from one foot to another. "My doctor said I could do with a nose job last time I saw him, so believe me, I know ugly noses."

"Oh, Richard, there's nothing wrong with your nose," Jared sounds so soft when he speaks, so concerned as he puts the ice pack down and approaches Richard, shifting all of the attention on himself towards him. A way of deflecting, perhaps. "Your nose is reminiscent of paintings of the Greek Gods..."

"Jared," Richard holds a hand out to stop the onslaught of compliments Jared is likely to shower him with. They've made him feel less and less awkward over time, in fact, he's grown quite fond of them, but he's gotta give the guy a break sometimes. "Please, just take the compliment, yeah?"

"Oh," Jared blinks, stopped in his tracks.

"You look fine," Richard reassures, gesturing towards Jared's general vicinity with the yogurt spoon he picks up from the cup. "Better than most of the rejects around here."

"Oh, thanks, Richard," an employee deadpans as she passes by them towards the fridge.

"Sorry," Richard apologises, shame flooding through him at getting overheard. "Not you, Tiana. You're very... normal looking."

Tiana frowns in disgust as she leaves, but Jared barely notices her, too distracted by Richard's compliments, chest blooming as his sore lips curl up into a smile, pain be damned.

\- - -

"Hey," Richard says a few days later as Jared walks through the office with a sticky note to put on the productivity board. 

Turning to Richard, Jared's brows raise as he hums the sound of a question, "Huh?"

"That sweater," Richard notes, a little shyer than his initial greeting. "It suits you."

Jared grins, giddiness overwhelming as he lifts a little on the balls of his feet, "Thank you, Richard."

\- - -

They're getting drinks at a bar after a particularly successful day, and Richard is three drinks in and tipsy, that sleepy sort of drunk where things are all hazy and happy.

Jared is tucking away a slip of paper that a rather attractive woman has just put under his glass, a smile on his lips, and Richard watches the whole thing happen with his temple pressed to a propped up fist and with a half smirk on his face.

"I don't get it," Richard observes, glancing behind Jared at the woman who'd given her his number, then back at Jared again. "You get all these girls, but you were so insecure about your looks that you got lip injections?"

Jared blinks at Richard, a little taken aback by him bringing that up again. Lips downturning, he nods his head from side to side, thinks about it, "I guess I never really made the connection. I always thought my personality was what made me lucky in that area."

"Personality?" Richard frowns, chuckles a little drily. "Jared, that woman hasn't spoken one word to you all night. It's gotta be more than that."

A twinge of curiosity causes Jared to press Richard for his own theories, a part of him feeling a tad guilty for wanting Richard to compliment him again. Clearing his throat, he asks, "Well, why else would someone be interested? My foster mother always said I was too skinny and homely looking for dates."

"Christ," Richard groans, practically flinching at Jared's dark past. He figures that's probably why Jared is so insecure about his looks. All that emotional abuse probably fucked with him really bad. "Jared, you gotta stop saying shit like that, man."

Jared feels caught out all of a sudden, eyes dropping to his hands as he shifts in his seat, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry," Richard says, lifting his head from his fist and placing his hands flat on the table. He meets Jared's eye when Jared glances back up at him, and he gives him a warm, half-drunk smile, cheeks burning from the alcohol in his system. "They obviously bang you because they think you're hot. Honestly, Jared, you can't keep putting yourself down. You're a handsome guy."

Jared could blame the way heat creeps up the back of his neck on the two cocktails he's consumed, but he would be lying. Swallowing, he leans forward a little in the booth, chin propped up on his fist as he blinks at Richard, eyes half lidded. He presses for more, but plays innocent, "Oh, Richard, I appreciate you trying to cheer me up, but I don't need sympathy."

"It's not sympathy," Richard stresses, eyes widening a little as he leans forward, knuckles bumping against Jared's hands on the table. "I'm serious, Jared. You're handsome. Your eyes are really blue and your skin is always clear, besides the redness from the lip thing, and your hair is good. I'm jealous of your hair, it's all straight and neat."

Jared can't quite believe that Richard would be jealous of him, especially not when Richard has those beautiful curls that Jared can never quite find the right words to describe the colour of. Not to mention those eyes... if Jared's eyes were blue then Richard's eyes were sapphire. 

"Honestly, Jared," Richard yawns a little, feeling the busy day and the alcohol start to take their effect. Rubbing at his tired eyes, he blinks at Jared, a small, warm smile on his lips. "You're the best looking guy I'm friends with. Like, Gilfoyle and Dinesh? They've got nothing on you."

Jared knows he should blame Richard's praise of him on the alcohol, but there's such a large part of him that's bursting with joy that he ignores it, basking in the shower of compliments instead. Damned be the underlying guilt in Jared's gut at taking advantage of Richard's lowered inhibitions.

"Oh, Richard..." Jared's eyelashes flutter against his warm cheeks, as if he were the female romantic lead in an old, English novel, swooning over her roguish lover's words. "I don't quite know what to say."

"It's no biggie," Richard shrugs, stretching his arms across the booth as he leans back, his choice of slang and body language a clear sign that he's drunk at this point. He gazes at Jared, smiles. "I'm just being honest."

\- - - 

Shamefully, Jared dreams of Richard that evening.

He dreams of his lips pressed against the length of his throat, dreams about his voice low in his ear as he tells Jared how handsome he is, how he's never met a man or woman as beautiful as him.

It's all rather self indulgent, but Jared prefers it greatly to the night terrors that usually plague him.

He wakes up eventually, skin clammy to the touch, but not from the fear sweats that come with nightmares.

Blushing wildly, Jared makes his way to the bathroom to grab a damp washcloth to wipe himself down with. He chastises himself as he grabs a clean pair of boxers from his bedroom drawers. 

He won't be able to look at Richard in the eye for days.

\- - - 

Richard doesn't mention Jared's appearance for the next few weeks, and Jared comes to terms with the fact that perhaps the compliments are done with, and were maybe just a tactic to get Jared to feel confident again. He supposes that isn't too bad. After all, it had made him less self-conscious of himself, and it was nice to hear something so kind from a man he admired so dearly.

"Dick, have you seen this article?" Gilfoyle tosses a magazine down on Richard's desk, a small smirk on his features as the sound startles Jared and Richard, who look up from their respective locations. "Guess who was voted one of the top crushes in the Tech World, 2018?"

"What?" Richard frowns, grabbing the magazine from the desk and scanning over the article Gilfoyle had opened it to. On the page, there's a picture of Jared, next to the number seventeen. "Jared?"

Jared's eyes widen as he blinks at Richard and Gilfoyle, taken aback for a moment. Crossing the room, he stops at Richard's desk, leans over his shoulder to look at the article with a photo of him from a business event on the page, "Oh, wow. People have crushes on me?"

"I know," Gilfoyle deadpans, arms folded across his chest. "Humans are baffling."

"Oh, come on," Richard purses his lips, throws Gilfoyle a disapproving look before returning his eyes to the article. "It's not that weird. Jared's not ugly."

A twinge of excitement spreads through Jared's stomach at Richard's words, a feeling he hasn't felt since that night at the bar. He breathes out, a little giddy, lips stretched into a grin, "Thank you, Richard."

"Wow, okay," Gilfoyle glances between the two of them, one brow raised slightly in suspicion. "You want to paint him like one of your French girls whilst you're at it, Dick?"

Heat creeps across Richard's cheeks at Gilfoyle's words and he clears his throat, shakes his head, "Shut up, Gilfoyle."

Jared is still grinning.

\- - - 

"I can't believe these comments," Jared grins as he scrolls through the article he'd been reading earlier, this time on his tablet. "This woman from Ohio said she'd give her right arm to kiss me, how wonderful!"

Richard has been subtly watching Jared's ever joyous expressions for the past ten minutes, the two of them sat in Richard's office, after hours, working on code. There's something quite appealing about Jared's positivity, of the lines of his soft, pale features, the blue of his eyes as they light up. Richard swallows, shifts in his chair as he watches him, "You sound surprised."

"I am," Jared exclaims, turning to Richard with a grin as he spins in his chair. 

Richard studies him for a moment, tilts his head to the side, "It still surprises you? After getting all those girls and stuff? Even Russ Hanneman said you fucked."

It's a little blunt, but Jared doesn't seem flustered by it, rather intrigued actually as he blinks, thinking about it for a moment, "I suppose it's like I said before, I thought it was just my social skills. I hadn't realised that maybe people found me attractive on a physical level. It's very strange."

"I don't think it's strange," Richard says, lips pursed together as he shakes his head. He rolls a little forward in his desk chair, closer towards Jared, hands linked together under his chin. "I mean... would you call someone strange if they told you they thought you were... hot or something?"

The words come out a little stilted, awkward as Richard's palms begin to sweat a little, nerves buzzing away in his gut. He swallows again, a little more audibly, and Jared's brow furrows, head tilting to the side as he blinks at Richard.

"Well, I guess it would depend on who it was," Jared says, searching Richard's face for a clue to his suggestions, lips parting when the wheels of Richard's office chair scoot closer.

"What about a guy?" Richard asks, voice a little quieter as he draws closer into Jared's space. "I mean, hypothetically..."

"Oh, well, I have no issues with that," Jared responds, eyes flickering towards the curve of Richard's lips, his own body leaning forward instinctively in his chair. "Which guy in particular?"

"Someone you know," Richard's voice almost cracks when he speaks, but he pushes through the nerves, hands reaching out to press against the plastic arms of Jared's office chair. His knuckles grip it a little too tight, turning white as he inches closer, neck craned at an odd angle. "Like me... hypothetically..."

"Oh," Jared whispers, chin tilting up to look Richard in the eye, taking in the dark of his pupils, his own lashes fluttering as the warmth of Richard's breath hits his lips. "Richard, there's nothing I'd like more."

"Alright," Richard's words are a little awkward in the air between them, but Jared doesn't mind at all, not when he's so close to him that their noses bump together, and not when Richard is being so sweet, so complimentary of him. "I think that you are... very attractive, Jared Dunn."

"Richard..." Jared whispers, fingers reaching across the small space between them, resting upon Richard's bicep, feeling the warmth of his skin even beneath his button-up shirt. "Richard, I..."

Jared's words are cut short as Richard closes the gap between them, lips pressing firmly against Jared's own. It's a short lived kiss, an experiment of sorts, and when Richard pulls back, Jared's fingers reach up to his cheek, holds him there in his gaze.

Richard glances away, cheek burning hot beneath Jared's fingers as he stutters out, apologising, "I'm sorry... I should have asked."

"Richard," Jared reassures him, trying to calm his nerves as he strokes a thumb across Richard's cheekbone, tilts his head up to meet his eye. Lips curling into a smile, Jared brushes his nose against Richard's cheek, cranes into him. "Richard, it's alright. I promise."

Jared's initiates the second kiss, presses his top lip to Richard's bottom one, softer as they move together, knees bumping as their chairs roll forward, clunking against each other. Rising to his feet, Jared pulls Richard gently up along with him, thumbs hooked under his jawline as Richard's hands meet his waist, fingers curling into the material of Jared's sweater, neck craning up to make up for the height difference between them.

Richard has always been self-conscious about kissing, had always been told that he was either too much lip or not enough lip, too much tongue or not enough teeth. 

Jared doesn't seem to have any complaints, not when he lets out a soft moan against Richard's mouth when Richard's tongue presses against the seam of Jared's lips, hips aligning as they spin together, Richard taking the lead somewhat as he presses Jared against the solid wall of his office.

"Richard," Jared gasps, mouth pulling away from Richard's own as a light flickers on in the bullpen of the office. His eyes fly open as he looks out through the glass, fingers digging into Richard's shoulders as a pre-warning.

Richard is too distracted by the tightness of his pants as he rocks against Jared, and the heat of Jared's neck under his mouth, at first at least, because then Jared is warning him again and more lights outside are flickering on behind them, basking the office in a yellow glow.

"Fuck me!" the sound of Dinesh's voice rings out through the otherwise empty office as he drops the laptop that he'd been holding in his hands. "Jared?! What the fuck?!"

Jumping away from Jared, Richard spins on his heel, eyes wide and cheeks burning hot as he grabs his hoodie from the back of his office chair, holds it in front of his crotch to hide the obvious.

"Richard?" Dinesh's initial shock is replaced by confusion, then quickly flitters into shock again. "What the fuck?!"

Jared and Richard glance at each other, Richard's lips parted and red as he searches Jared's stunned expression for a clue to an excuse. He finds nothing, and can't quite come up with one on his own as he turns to Dinesh, blinks for a moment before speaking, "The article..."

Dinesh blinks between them for a moment, brows drawn together. His silence is cut off by his own shout, "What the fuck does that mean?!"

\- - -

Dinesh promises to not tell anyone about it, especially not Gilfoyle, something he actually is happy about, knowing something that Gilfoyle doesn't know.

"Richard," Jared says later that evening, stood at his own front door as Richard lingers in the hallway, having taken an Uber with him to his apartment. "I'm sorry that Dinesh walked in."

"It's okay," Richard says, hands dug in the pocket of his hoodie as he bounces on the balls of his feet. He chuckles, glances down at the hallway carpet. "I mean. It's my fault, really. I probably shouldn't have hit on you like that."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Jared's lips stretch into a grin, stomach fluttering as he gazes at Richard fondly. "I kind of like being called attractive by you."

"And handsome," Richard reminds him, grinning a little giddily as he looks up at Jared. His phone beeps, but he ignores it, eyes casting up and down Jared's long form before landing on the soft, inviting lines of his face.

"Richard, would you like to maybe stay over?" Jared finally asks him, voice a little nervous even with his previous confidence still underlying. 

Richard swallows, blinks up at Jared, lips tingling at the memory of Jared's mouth against his own, blood rushing through him at the thought of Jared's hips, of the soft groan that had left him. Thoughts rush through his mind, a collection of curiosities, wondering what other noises he could arouse from Jared, what Jared's slim thighs would feel like wrapped around his waist.

Nodding a little too vigorously, Richard fumbles for his phone in his pocket, hurriedly texts their Uber driver, telling them they can leave now, paypals the fair through to them.

Jared grins as he lets Richard in, taking him by the wrist, "Come on in, Casanova."


End file.
